By Glen Korstrom
Self-publishing children’s books is increasingly a booming industry attracting countless aspiring authors.
Producing smaller print runs has become easier and cheaper while printing technology continually improves, according to printing company executives such as Metropolitan Fine Printers president Nikos Kallas.
The result is a growing number of aspiring authors who cut out the middle company, create their own books and launch their own publishing company.
The trend is particularly strong when it comes to children’s books partly because many believe those books will continue to be resilient to the sales erosion that downloadable books for e-reading devices are inflicting on adult books.
Some children’s book authors, such as Gumboot Books principal Jared Hunt, produce both hard cover books and tell their stories interactively via smartphone apps.
But many believe the physicality of children’s books will remain popular because of parents’ desire to read to their kids at bedtime and let their kids turn pages.
Statistics Canada estimated that large Canadian publishers generated about $197 million, or 13% of the $1.5 billion in total book sale revenue in Canada in 2006.
“It’s more difficult to get published by a large publisher if you’re just starting out so self-publishing is a solution,” said Phyllis Simon, who co-owns the three-store Kidsbooks chain.
Simon has seen a lot more self-published authors pitch their books to her, and she treats them just as she does a large publisher or a distributor. She reads or skims the book and assesses its marketability.
If she deems it will sell, she gives self-published authors the same offer she gives those who are published by established companies: roughly 60% of the cover price.
Authors usually get about 5% of the wholesale price. So do illustrators. Publishers get the lion’s share, said West Vancouver-based Tina Powell.
Powell founded Big Fat Pen Publishing Inc. in 2004 and is her publishing company’s only author.
So far, her six books have sold an impressive 600,000 units, largely because of her success at attracting corporate sponsors such as Maple Leaf Foods, Proctor and Gamble Co. and Boar’s Head, she said.
Earlier this year, Sarasota, Florida-based Boar’s Head bought 200,000 copies of Powell’s Fernando’s Fun-tastic Friends.
That book both entertains and educates kids on the value of healthy eating. Part of the book also mentions a fundraising walk for the American Diabetes Association.(ADA)
Powell tweaked the book and made a special edition for Boar’s Head, which produces deli meats, many of which are low in fat or in sodium.
Powell discretely inserted posters advertising Boar’s Head products in some of the illustrations.
Boar’s Head sponsors ADA and intended to give the books away for free.
“For me as an author, my mission is to get these books into the hands of as many children as possible. These corporate sponsors are a huge help by being willing to get those books out there. I can go to a school and say, ‘Everybody here gets a free book. That’s amazing,’” Powell said.
Visiting elementary schools is the lifeblood of many children’s books authors.
Whistler-based Sara Leach has used contacts gathered in her job as a teacher-librarian to snag gigs visiting area schools. Like many children’s books authors, she is a member of Children’s Writers and Illustrators of B.C.
That organization lists dozens of authors on its website and recommends that schools pay authors $250 as compensation for visiting the school and reading to the children.
“I don’t always get that but that’s the recommended rate,” Leach said. “It’s one of the ways children’s writers make it financially viable. You not only get paid for your time but you increase sales. The kids don’t buy the book, but the school library will often buy a couple copies.”
The visits also sometimes spur sales when kids tell their parents that they met the author of a book.
Leach both self-publishes and goes to an established publisher.
Her first self-published book was last year’s Mountain Madness, which helps teach kids how to count while having a skiing theme.
Her decision to self-publish was not entirely financially driven.
She wanted to make sure that it was published in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics so she could sell the book in Whistler to tourists.
It also gave her more creative freedom.